Tigers are good, but being good is not good enoughDwayne Russell
Adelaide Advertiser
14th May 2016IT’S worse than Groundhog Day. It’s the relationship so occasionally torturous that you know you should end it but can’t, because you invested too many hours into it.
You could leave, but you would need to leave the country. And what would you say to the kids, having preached about loyalty and toughing out the hard times.
2016 is just another season that has been unbearably and embarrassingly cruel to those who barrack for Richmond. Which is why a club boasting 71,000 members is now only drawing an average of 20,000 of its fans to home games.
Fans are not stupid. They know all wins now are simply delaying the inevitable. Pretty floral wallpaper over massive structural cracks in a collapsing house that needs rebuilding. Wins that will only serve to cost Richmond a valuable early draft pick, given the Tigers will miss the finals, and even more disastrously could finish in the 9th-12th twilight zone of no reward.
Which is why President Peggy O’Neal must immediately publicly announce the beginning of the full football department review, which insiders believe will begin in secret next week anyway.
The facts say Richmond has been a below average club for the 33 years since 1982, given the Tigers have only made five finals appearances in the past three decades. The past three seasons have at least been good, finishing seventh, eighth and seventh. But being good is not good enough in the AFL. Because premierships are won by people who are great. And O’Neal and the Richmond board must decide whether to move some ok and some good people out, and find great coaches and great recruiters to replace them.
Damien Hardwick is obviously a good coach. Keeping him because you can’t afford to pay him out, or because it will severely embarrass those that ridiculously lengthened his contract to the end of 2018 earlier this season, is not the right reason to keep him.
Hardwick should only be retained if they realistically believe he can be great. Or if they can find some great coaches to put around him. And if he stops making moves like taking Dustin Martin out of the middle after he has won three centre clearances in a row to set up three quick goals to start the game against Hawthorn. Or moves like calling Ty Vickery to the bench and sitting him for 10 minutes, after he has just kicked two goals in two minutes to swing momentum back Richmond’s way.
But the bigger essential is recruiting some great players that might make Hardwick great.
Richmond’s recruiting has long been average. Adding used players Chris Yarran, Jacob Townsend, Andrew Moore and Taylor Hunt in the past two summers, on top of Shaun Hampson, Aaron Edwards, Chris Knights, Matt Thomas and Troy Chaplin in the two preceding years has not proven productive.
And how far back do they need to examine? Drafting Vickery with pick 8 in 2008 when they could have had Jack Ziebell, Steele Sidebottom, Dan Hannabury, or Rory Sloane. Choosing Reece Conca with pick 6 in 2010 when the next two picks were Josh Caddy and Dyson Heppell. Taking Jarrad Oakley-Nicholls with pick 8 in 2005 when the following seven picks included current stars Shaun Higgins, Nathan Jones, Shannon Hurn, Grant Birchall and Travis Varcoe.
Unfortunately, a bad year can have repercussions for a decade. The prime example being the sliding door moment when Richmond drafted Richard Tambling with pick 4 in 2004 when they could have had franchise changers Lance Franklin or Jordan Lewis.
Which is why the Tiger board must decide immediately if it trusts it’s current recruiting team to get it right if Richmond ends up with pick 4 or 5 this season. Get it horribly wrong, and the repercussions could be felt for another decade.
Geelong’s now famous 2006 football department review conducted by CEO Brian Cook, when he decided to retain Mark Thompson as coach and help him by adding Neil Balme as football operations manager; gets quoted mischievously. Thompson improved his team and its discipline and magnificently coached two premierships in the three seasons that followed.
But Bomber had a premiership-capable list because club recruiter Stephen Wells had already traded for, and drafted, Matthew Scarlett (father-son), Tom Harley, Paul Chapman, Cameron Ling, Corey Enright, Cameron Mooney, Jimmy Bartel, James Kelly, Steve Johnson, Gary Ablett (father-son), Andrew Mackie, Tom Lonergan, Brad Ottens, Travis Varcoe and Matthew Stokes. To top that list off to start 2007, in the 2006 draft Wells selected future captain Joel Selwood with pick 7, and Tom Hawkins (father-son).
Great coaching is critical. But recruiters who repeatedly deliver champion players make good coaches great.
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/afl/expert-opinion/richmond-is-good-but-being-good-is-not-good-enough-writes-dwayne-russell/news-story/c41e2ddcd4651e6650f572f7786f9793
